The Artois-Flander invasion of Holland
The Artois-Flander invasion of Holland of avril 1457. Force in presence. - Hollanders unknow - Flanders Ost unknow, retired just after the conquest of Amsterdam - Artois Ost unknow, retired just after the conquest of Amsterdam - Bourrins Warriors unknow Commander : Lord Torqual Background AAP report Word has reached us that the county of Holland is under siege by Artois en Flanders.This night the French attacked the capital Amsterdam and removed the countess Asherah van Rapenburghe - dela Mendoza and her counsil from the office of power. They have send a letter of demands to hand over the cities of Heusden Leiden and Utrecht to their controle. The countess has declared marschall law and has given the order to mobilisation of the Dutch army. A French army has been seen at the border near the city of Antwerp. The Dutch fear that this could be a total conquest of their county... Thanks for Raboud You asked for it... A few remarks beforehand tough: -I do not claim to be completely neutral. This is the situation from my point of view, but, as Dutch civilian, I am influenced. I have used the combined information of the AAP (both Dutch and French), the international forums and the RK Dutch forum. -I do declare I have tried to strive for objectivity, but for the reasons I said above, I do not posses the objective point of view from an outsider. -I am aware that the chronology is not yet perfect, and a few errors may be in this. A new version, with dates, is coming up. -If people think I have done them a big unjustice, do send me a message. As I said: I strive for objectivity in this matter. I will set it right in a next version if they can prove their point with valid documents: an AAP article, a link to a post on the forum, and screenshots are all valid to me. -Have fun reading. Quote: Raboude enters the stage and clears his throat. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's play: The Dutch Comedy. A medieval comedy of war, intrigue, love, patriottism, lies and honour. Shortly, everything Ireland has but with a single connection to the rest of the world. I present to you: the players! -The County of Holland: An isolated SRING county north to Flanders and Artois. The only Dutch-speaking county in the Kingdoms, with a population of 1300 people. Their current Countess is Karanda. -The Bourrins of Cambrai: A group of proud Artesian warriors, mostly coming from the city of Cambrai. Called 'heroes' by some, 'brigants' by others. They count various important Artesians in their ranks, as former Count Yeuxbleus83 for example, and various former Councillors. They have an army in Leiden, Holland. -The County of Flanders: An important county in the north of France. French-speaking, a population of 1500 people. Their current Count is Ascalon. They are allied with the County of Artois trough a pact called "The Pact of the Iron Lion", which states to overrule each other treaty. -The County of Artois: Another important county in the north of France. A population of 2300 people, they are currently ruled by a Regent, Pluchon. They are allied with Flanders trough The Pact of the Iron Lion. -Wuggalix of Flanders: The former count of Flanders, according to many the designer of the plan to invade Holland and take two cities from them. Father of Duncan., who leads an army of Flemish troops in Heusden, Holland. -Florence of Artois: Former Countess of Artois, who was forced to resign after she condamned the actions of the Bourrins in Holland. She has now written a public letter with her version of the tale. Act I: Events that led to the attack -Flanders and Holland live next to each other, with almost no diplomatic contacts because of the language barrier. However, a non-agression pact was signed in the past. -Wuggalix, Count of Flanders, is said to have contacted Yeusbleus83, count of Artois, saying he has enough of the provocations of Dutch citizens on Flemish soil, and of the economical mass dumping movements. -A plan of the invasion of Holland is designed. The Bourrins would infiltrate in Holland, sneak behind their defenses and take over the castle of Amsterdam. Flanders would then launch an ultimatum, that included the annexation of Heusden and an iron mine. If not, a declaration of war of Flanders would follow, Artois would join by the Pact of the Iron Lion. -The parties agree to the plan, but because of re-elections in both counties, the plan had to wait. -Both in Artois and in Flanders, someone without connections to the parties of Wuggalix and Yeusbleux becomes count: Florence in Artois, Ascalon in Flanders. -The plan is set in motion anyway. Both new counts claim they were misled and left in the dark about the plan by the Bourrins and the political party of Wuggalix. Act II: The invasion of Holland -The Bourrins made their way in Holland, moving to Amsterdam. They were left alone, believing they were tourists. -The Bourrins take over the castle of Amsterdam at Eastern day. -Holland receives an ultimatum from Count Ascalon. -Holland declares the state of emergency, and refuses the ultimatum. Holland believes itself to be in state of war. -Count Ascalon withdraws the ultimatum, saying he was misled and misinformed about the plans and the events. -The Bourrins take over the city of Amsterdam -A second Artesian army crosses the border with Holland. -Count Ascalon, Countess Asherah of Holland and Countess Florence of Artois sign a treaty in wich they condamn the actions of the Bourrins as illegitime. -Countess Florence calls back the second army. Many turn back, some declare themselves loyal to the Bourrins and continue their way to Amsterdam. -Two Flemish armies, including Duncan., son of Wuggalix, cross the Dutch border, and claim to have come to the aid of their Artesian fellows. At this stage, 4 armies find themselves on Dutch soil: one at Amsterdam, one at Utrecht (both of the Bourrins), and 2 at Heusden (Flemish). -The Dutch mayors put the invaders of the castle on trial for treason. After a threat that the mines will be utterly destroyed if they continue, the cases are being closed. -In Artois, Florence is forced to resign and flees to Champagne. -In Amsterdam, the Bourrins steal the Dutch treasury. -A new Dutch player receives a huge mandate and makes his way to Cambrai. -Holland manages to get back into their castle, not trough military force, but because of elections. -Two Dutch armies are raised: one in the capital, Amsterdam, and one in Utrecht. The Bourrins create an army themselves, in Amsterdam. -The second Bourrin army is battling in Utrecht and is broken. -The first Bourrin army makes way to Leiden. -The two Flemish armies attack the Dutch army in Utrecht, that manages to hold them back. -Artois pronounces Pluchon as its new Regent. Act III: Negotiations -After informal contacts, Regent Pluchon invites Flemish and Dutch emissaries to the castle of Arras for negotiations. -Participants from Holland side: the newly chosen Countess, Karanda, and the Chancellor, Elchan. Raboude, Ghislenus and Lodewijkvanmale join in to translate from Dutch to French and vice versa. -Participants of Flanders: Ascalon, Count of Flanders, Doudou, and LouisHubert. -Participants from Artois: Pluchon, Regent of Artois, Cyann, Chancellor of Artois, and Torqual, leader of the Bourrins in Holland. -By accepting the presence of Torqual, Regent Pluchon makes clear that the Bourrins are on Dutch territory by right. Nonetheless, the negotiations start. -An informal agreement has been made that, for the time of the negotiations, none of the parties will attack, and no army will move. -The army of the Bourrins remains on agressive stance, killing various Dutch civilians. -The second Flemish army falls apart because the first commander died at the battle of Utrecht, and the next army commander was not fit to lead (lvl 2). -After a week of debating, all three parties were on their way to agree to a final solution. -One problem needed to be solved: who would retreat to where and when? Holland wants to secure the city of Heusden, who is still under siege by a Flemish army, by having the Flemish retreat, and moving the Dutch army to Heusden and move in the city. Artois wants the Dutch army to retreat in the gates of Utrecht, have the army of the Bourrins join with that of the Flemish deserters, and then retreat. -Holland refuses, supported by Flanders, and negotiations are blocked. -A rebellion in Cambrai has been put down, and order was restored. -Artois closes its borders for foreigners, including for Flanders, and expels anyone who had ties to the rebels in Cambrai. -Countess Karanda en Count Ascalon sign a treaty between Holland and Flanders, that confirms that every Flemish army on Dutch soil is not tolerated. -Torqual of the Bourrins declares the negotiations closed, claiming Flanders and Holland did not have the right to sign any agreement without Artois. Act IV: Current status -Regent Pluchon makes a public declaration, stating that the war was ordered by Flanders, and that Artois only moved in to help their allies. He also mentions that Count Ascalon has betrayed the Lion Pact by signing an individual agreement with Holland. -Former Countess Florence publishes an open letter to Artois, wherein she claims to be the victim of the plans of the Bourrins, wherein she accuses the actual Regent of having sold his loyalty to them, and wherein she says to be saddened by the grip they hold on Artois. -Holland has started prosecuting the Flemish and Artesian civilians who are still on Dutch soil. -The Dutch army in Utrecht moves to Rotterdam, to close in the Bourrins. -The army of the Bourrins, lead by Torqual, has suffered big losses after they tried to move to Rotterdam. -To be continued...